Hey #AcademicTwitter! A lot of folks are making decisions about PhD programs right now, so I want to share a bit of wisdom that has helped me in my PhD program: collaborate with your peers. I’ll explain... 1/9

There is much emphasis on the faculty you work with and that’s important, but there is a generational divide between you and your faculty members. Peers are an important complement to the faculty relationships you build because they are in the thick of it when you are. 2/9

Faculty have established networks, pre-existing relationships with collaborators. Depending on the project, the opportunity cost is high to start working with a newly minted graduate student. The opportunity cost of collaborating with a peer is lower for both of you. 3/9

If you are someone’s RA, that’s great! Drink in that experience and knowledge! But if you want to run the show, build a network of peers who want to run the show together with you. These relationships have the potential to run the expanse of your career. 4/9

This matters—faculty collaborations may not have the same longevity. Your faculty member may retire actual decades before you even get tenure. Then what? It’s good to have options. You can still get faculty support/input on peer collaborations! 5/9

On the matter of time, because you are at different career stages than faculty, priorities are different. You might need to produce a publication to reach a career milestone but they could be tapped out with admin stuff and have already reached full prof. That’s added stress! 6/9

Also, while you may be first author or lead something when working with faculty, people’s brains may default to assuming you were working “for” and not “with” that faculty member. It’s not right or fair, but it happens. There’s more assumed ownership with peer collaborations. 7/9

Additionally, there is a higher level of potential social support that comes along with peer-to-peer collaborations. The stakes for venting to a faculty member can be a lot higher than with a fellow grad student collaborator. That’s just how the power dynamics work, friend. 8/9

Tl;dr - collaborating with faculty is great and you should definitely go for it, but don’t underestimate the value of peer collaborators. Just as many career building opportunities can come from them as faculty ones. Good luck on your new adventure! #AcademicChatter 9/9